Report: Rangers stars call out teammates after CRUSHING game 6 loss

It was a crushing defeat and the frustration was written all over Mats Zuccarello’s face. After falling 4-2 to the Ottawa Senators in game 6 of their second round playoff series, the New York Rangers postseason is over all too soon…again. Warranted or not the Rangers have now earned a reputation as  annual playoff disappointments, and the team’s leaders didn’t mince words when describing how it feels.

"I think we kind of gave it away," forward Mats Zuccarello said bluntly. Henrik Lundqvist offered even more criticism, saying “Sometimes it’s not about playing your best game, it’s about finding ways to win games and they did that better than we did.” 

As a group, the Rangers seemed to believe that they were capable of getting past the Senators but continually, “shot themselves in the foot”, as captain Ryan McDonagh put it. Only forward Derek Stepan offered up any praise for his opponent, saying “They battled real hard. They played real strong games. They had that magic. Sometimes you've got to have a little bit of that."

The fact that the Rangers played a difficult team in the Senators will come as little solace to Rangers fans, however. The offseason once again starts far too early for this group and, this summer, the team’s management will be busy trying to re-sign 8 impending free-agents. Lots of work to do in the Big Apple.